Welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom
by Turtlerose555
Summary: Two Plumber brothers. A beautiful princess. A menacing Koopa. And the prophecy that brought them all together. Let's just say it all started with a broken toilet...(Book One of the Mushroom Kingdom saga)
1. One

**One**

Let's just say, it all started with a broken toilet…

Mario and Luigi were on their way to work. They were simple plumbers in the big city of NYC, and they were the best plumbers around, for once they fixed the toilet, shower, or sink, it was guaranteed not to break down again. Which meant they were paid big, way more than plumbers are supposed to be paid. They went to their small office building in the heart of NYC. They were hoping for no calls today, but that was impossible in New York; last week, they had twenty seven calls, and just yesterday they had fifteen calls to repair plumbing. They were a bit exhausted, and needed to take a break. Luckily, there were no calls that morning, so the brothers caught a few hours of sleep before going down to the Italian Pizzeria for lunch.

As they ate, they looked out the window and watched the city life go by. They often thought about their futures and wanted to get out of the plumbing business. Mario wanted to explore the world, and maybe meet a nice female companion while he was t it. Luigi wanted to settle down, get married, and start a family of his own. The brothers wanted different lives, but in order to achieve it, they first had to get out of the plumbing job and find more suitable careers.

"Hey, Mario."

"Yeah, Luigi"

"You ever thought about doing something other than this dumb plumbing job?"

"Well, yeah, of course I have," Mario answered as he slurped on his soda, "But the thing is, I don't know what else there is for me."

"Dad always said that the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. Our whole family, on dad's side that is, have all been plumbers. Maybe we're just destined to be plumbers and nothing else."

"But what if dad's _wrong_?"

Mario and Luigi's parents were Italian, and on their father's side, every male member had been in the plumbing business. It was a family thing. Mario and Luigi moved from Italy to New York to try and make it big as plumbers. And make it big they did. But now, they just wanted a different lives from what they were expected to live.

"Well, dad's never wrong, Mario. You know that."

"Maybe so. But something tells me that just this once, he's actually wrong. I don't know how he is or what, but trust me. This time, he's wrong. I'm gonna prove it."

"Well until the day comes when you prove him wrong," Luigi said as he wiped his mouth and placed the dirty napkin into his empty plate, "It's best you get back to work at something you do best. No matter how gross it is."

He got up, and then Mario got up as well. After paying the bill, they left the restaurant and went back to their office. Upon arrival, the phone rang and Luigi went to pick it up.

"Hello, Mario Bros. Plumbing Services. You bust it, we fix it good and new. How can we help you?"

"Yeah, uh, my girlfriend's freaking out over her toilet."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well, earlier it was spitting up sparks and smoke, and then all of a sudden this plant just popped up out of the bowl and started shooting fire at us!"

"Woah there! That's not natural!"

"Exactly what we said!"

"Alright, me and my bro will be there at your house in a few! What's the address?"

"712 Schenectady Avenue!"

"We'll be there!"

Luigi hung up the phone and turned to Mario, who looked concerned at this point.

"Mario, we gotta go! This one's a doozey!"

They dashed out of the building, jumped into the truck, and took off at about 90 mph, dashing though traffic as they made their way to the house in danger. They reached there in only seven minutes, and got out of the truck with their supplies as soon as the engine clicked off. Mario sprinted for the door and rang the bell constantly. But when the door opened however, Mario froze, and every single thing that was coursing through his body came to a standstill as he looked at the person who answered the door.

"P-P-Pauline?"

Pauline stood at door, her face etched in pure fright, more so at the danger of the toilet than at the sight of Mario.

"Mario! Thank goodness you're here! Please, I need your help with this toilet!"

Mario shook his head and regained composure of what he was doing. He dashed inside the house to the bathroom, expecting to see some type of man-eating Venus flytrap snapping at him, or fire just everywhere. But no, that wasn't the case. The toilet was indeed coughing up sparks and smoke, but there was no sign that fire or plants had ever inhabited the bathroom. Scratching his head in a confused manner, he took out a gunk unclogger serum, poured the green substance inside the bowl and flushed the toilet. He waited a few seconds before unscrewing the pipes, banging a few things inside, screw back on the pipes, and flush again. The toilet worked as good as new. It confused him even more, and he went out to report his findings.

"Well…it doesn't look like anything was living in it. There was sparks and crackles and whatnot, but other than that, no fire or man-eating plants."

"Well maybe it went away," Luigi said as Pauline sighed with relief, "I'll wait for you outside, Mario."

Luigi grabbed his stuff and went outside to the truck. Mario stood there with Pauline in an awkward silence before she said something.

"Um, if you need anything, the kitchen's-"

"Yeah, I know. I remember where everything is."

"Oh yeah…"

"Yeah…"

More silence. Mario took the time to notice what she had on. Her outfit was a bit skimpy; a short tank that only covered the upper part of her torso, and a pair of really short jeans shorts. Mario blushed and decided that now was the time to leave.

"I-I guess I should go now…"

"Mario, wait," Pauline said. He turned around and she stepped a bit closer to him. "Uh, you know, I haven't seen you around in a while, or spoken to you as a matter of fact."

"Yeah, well, I've been busy…"

"I can see that…saving the world one toilet at a time. That was always you."

Mario chuckled softly. "Haha, you're right about that. Well, I'll be going now. See ya around."

"Alright. Call me sometime."

"Sure. I'll think about it."

He walked out of the house and got into the truck, turned on the engine, and drove off at a much slower speed. The brothers were silent for a bit, and then Luigi turned to Mario.

"So…have you ever spoken to her since you two…"

"No. Today was the first time since then." He frowned after he finished the sentence. "Talking about wanting me to call her and stuff."

"And are you?"

"I haven't decided yet. But I don't think I will."

They drove on in a bit more silence. "Don't you think it's weird, Luigi?"

"What's weird?"

"How she claimed that there was a Piranha like plant shooting fire at her, but when we get there, there's nothing there?"

"What are you saying…"

"I'm saying that she's lying."

"Mario-"

"How is she just going to say all that stuff was coming out of her toilet? Obviously that was a big lie."

"But…"

"But what?"

"What if she's _not_ lying?"

Silence. Mario didn't know what else to say. Pauline's cry of help seemed false. Then again, what if it was truth, and strange things were only just beginning to happen New York? The duo remained silent for the rest of the ride home.


	2. Two

**Two**

The next day was only the start of even more strange things. Mario woke up in his bed more tired and grumpier than normal. He rubbed his face as he made to sit up, thinking about yesterday's incident. Pauline had claimed that sparks and crackles were flying out of the plumbing, and that a piranha looking plant had popped out of her toilet, spitting fireballs at her. Mario couldn't believe it. The part that freaked him out the most was how scared she was, as if the whole incident had actually _happened_. Luigi stirred in the bed across the room, mumbling something in his sleep. Mario shook his head and got up out his bed, making his way into the bathroom. He turned on the pipe, brushed his teeth, and then splashed water into his face as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Piranha like plant," he mumbled to himself, "Fireballs." He began laughing softly to himself as he found the whole situation amusing. There was no way Pauline could've seen all that. She was probably just seeking attention, trying to get Mario to notice her again. After all, she ended things between them. It was only natural that she try to get him back. But did she ever think about the pain and heartache she brought upon him? He pondered upon it, and his grumpy mood returned. He found the more he thought about it, the more angrier he became.

He got out of the bathroom and saw that Luigi had woken up. Luigi's bed hair was worse than normal this morning, meaning that he had not slept well at all. Luigi was prone to nightmares and waking up in the middle of the night. By the look of his messy hair and bloodshot eyes, Mario concluded that Luigi definitely spent most of the night tossing and turning.

"Morning, bro," Mario greeted, "Guess you didn't sleep well again, did you?"

"No, I didn't," Luigi replied sleepily, yawning loudly in the process, "I had another nightmare. But...thing is...it's always the _same one_."

Mario sat on his own bed, looking for the remote. "Well, what's it about?"

"Well, it's always about us landing in this weird land that's being under attack by this giant mutant turtle guy who's trying to kidnap this really beautiful princess. And then we come in to try and save the day, but this guy keeps trying to kidnap us..."

Mario chuckled. "Come now, Weegi. That sounds like something out of a children's fairy tale book. We live in New York. Nothing like that's ever gonna happen here."

"Yeah, you're right," Luigi chuckled, "But still, I can't help but wonder, what if it's not just a dream?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like what if it's bound to happen, like some sort of prophecy? Or some crazy malarkey like that..."

"Awww, Luigi," Mario said as he found the remote and turned on the tv to the morning news, "It's just a stupid dream!"

They both turned to face the tv as the news anchorman appeared in their screen.

"And in breaking news, residents all over New York fear for their lives as complaints about fire spitting out of toilets come to light."

Mario and Luigi shot up out of the bed and plopped down in front of the tv, attentive to the anchorman's every last word.

"Yesterday, about thousands of complaints across the city of Brooklyn came about a giant spotted plant that came out of toilets and shot out fireballs at residents. Just this morning, the complaints increased to twenty times as much as yesterday."

The brothers looked at each other, grim looks on their faces. Pauline was right then. There really was a Piranha eating plant appearing out of her toilet. Then why did it disappear the minute Mario and Luigi step foot into her house?

"Mario...?"

"Yeah?"

"What if there's really-"

"No, Luigi. There is no prophecy."

"But-"

"There isn't, alright? So cut that nonsense out."

The phone rang, and Mario jumped up to answer it, already having an idea of what the call was about.

"Hello, Mario Bros. plumbing services-"

"HELP! PIRANHA EATING PLANT! FIRE EVERYWHERE!"

"We're on our way!"

Mario hung up the phone and looked at Luigi. Luigi figured out the look and got up to get ready. They were ready to go in fifteen minutes. They grabbed their tools and dashed out to the truck. No hesitation. Just go. As they drove, they noticed that the streets were like mayhem. Everyone was running outside, screaming and shouting in fear. Cars were turned over. Signs destroyed. Trash everywhere. Before the brothers could fully react, the gutter cap in front of them in the road flipped open, and a massive piranha like plant popped out. Mario slammed on the breaks as Luigi screamed like there was no tomorrow. But Mario's efforts were done too late and the truck rammed the plant head on, damaging the truck, killing the plant, and sending the brothers flying head first out of the front window. They landed flat on their stomachs, and quickly picked themselves up. Except for a few bruises, and a gash on Mario's head that was bleeding excessively, there was no real damage done to them.

"Mario, look!"

Mario looked to where Luigi was pointed at. The building where they received the call for was right in front of them, and there was heavy smoke coming from the fifth floor.

"that's the floor the guy's on. We have to rescue him."

"But Mario! That's place looks like it's on fire!"

"And? We still have a job to do, so let's do it."

Mario grabbed his tools and dashed towards the burning building. Luigi groaned but soon followed suit. They ran inside the building and worked their way to the fifth floor, using their hats to cover their noses and mouths so that smoke wouldn't get inside them. Mario kicked down the door to apartment 5G, where the smoke was coming from the most, then Luigi jumped in and used the heavy foam fire extinguisher to put out the flames, giving Mario access to the bathroom. The giant piranha like plant was continuously spitting fire at him. He didn't know what happened next, but instinctively, as if catching a ball, Mario shot up his arm to catch the ball of fire coming at him. He caught the flame ball, which freaked him out quite a bit. But the part that freaked him out the most? _The fire didn't burn_...

"Take this, Plantzilla!"

Mario wound up his arm and threw the fireball at the plant. The minute the flame touched the stems, the plant released a shrill, shrieking yell as it shriveled up into nothingness and decayed onto the floor in front of the toilet. Mario moved towards the toilet to look inside and see what the plant left behind, but the second he moved, the ground began to rumble violently and things fell to the floor and smashed. The rumbling stopped just as quickly as it had begun, but then there was an explosion right after, and the blast sent Mario crashing backwards into the wall, hitting his head and causing more blood to flow out of the gash.

When he came to a few seconds later, the left side of Mario's head was drenched in blood. But he didn't care about the blood. He cared about the sight in front of him. Luigi and the man who made the call sprinted to the bathroom to check out the noise.

"Mario, what hap..._woah_..."

Luigi stopped in mid sentence as he and the other man looked at where Mario was staring, eyes big and minds swirling with bewildered thoughts. A gigantic green pipe had risen out of the toilet.


	3. Three

**Three**

The pipe stood straight up inside the toilet bowl, not needing any support whatsoever. No one moved or made a sound, too much in awe to react. Finally, Mario made to get up off the ground, the blood dripping down his face and onto his arm and clothes, and moved towards the toilet. He reached out and felt the pipe. It was solid metal. How did a pipe like this erupt from the plumbing? Surely this wasn't the beginning of some Armageddon mess, is it? There came a faint moan from behind, and Mario turned to find that the man who made the call had fainted and fell to the ground.

Luigi stepped over him and went to the window. Outside, there was still a whole bunch of chaos going on, but it wasn't as horrific as before. He turned back to face his brother, only to find that Mario was completely mesmerized by the pipe. He placed his hands on the opening and hoisted himself up so that he was standing on the toilet bowl and looking down into the blackness of the hole. He was snapped out of his trance by Luigi's words.

"Oh no! I know you're not thinking about going down there!"

Mario turned to face him and smiled as if he had found the greatest treasure in the world.

"Luigi, this is pretty cool, you gotta admit! I wanna see what's down here! I want to explore!"

Luigi couldn't believe his ears. Mario sounded like a little boy wanting to go on an adventure.

"No! Don't you dare go down there!"

"Fine. I won't go down there."

Luigi breathed a sigh of relief, but Mario hopped down and jabbed his bloody index finger in Luigi's chest.

"You go first, then."

"Me?!"

Mario didn't wait for another reply. He picked up Luigi, carried him to the pipe, and threw him down the hole.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Luigi's scream echoed down the sides as he went down further and further. Mario concluded that the pipe was rather very deep. Throwing all caution to the wind, he hoisted himself onto the pipe, and fell in.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Mario slid down the pipe, getting faster by the second. He realized that the pipe had no friction as he tried to slow himself down but failed greatly. After what seemed like an eternity, Mario reached the end of the pipe and came out rolling like a ball until he landed on his butt next to Luigi. They looked around at the sight. It appeared to be some sort of cave. The purple stalactites hung down, ice covering the tips. There was a cold breeze whistling through the cave, causing the brothers to shiver and huddle together.

"M-M-Mario?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Can we go somewhere warmer please?"

"Yeah. L-Let's move."

They got up, and began walking, staying close together in case something were to jump out at them. They looked around, trying to find some way to get out. With every step they took, Mario regretted his choice more and more. Why did he have to spin up the idea to go explore what's on the other end of the pipe? Surely, they were possibly trapped here now. Luigi was beginning to get frantic. He was starting to chatter his teeth and dart his head in all directions every time he thought he heard a noise. Mario moved them along faster. The sooner they got out of there, the better.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Luigi! What's wrong?"

Luigi only mumbled as he pointed to the ceiling. The stalactites were shaking violently and beginning to fall, exploding on the ground and pieces spreading everywhere. Mario pushed Luigi out of the way and dived for the floor as the sharp stalactites above them disconnected and hurled towards the ground. In pure fear, they took off running, keeping their heads covered as the stalactites began falling faster and faster. Mario then chanced a look up, and began to skid to a stop.

"Luigi! Look out!"

Luigi kept running but then skidded across the wet ground as he saw what Mario was talking about. Straight ahead were more tubes, and emerging from them were the piranha like plants like they had seen in their world. They hissed and growled, spitting fireballs at them. Mario was at first frightened, but then realization hit him: He could defeat them like he had defeated the other one in that man's bathroom.

"Move Luigi! I think I got this!"

Luigi moved without hesitation, and the plants shot fireballs at Mario. Mario jogged a bit, his hand oust etched, and made to catch the fireball. However, something completely different happened.

"OWWWWWWW!"

The fireball touched Mario's glove, but this time, the flames scorched through the gloves, burning Mario's hand immensely. Mario sunk to the ground, pressing his burned hand into the wet ground for some kind of relief. However, this method didn't work; if anything, it only made it the pain worse. As Mario writhed on the ground, Luigi shook and trembled at the side, completely at lost on what to do. He looked around desperately and found something that caught his eye. Hidden in bricks and stone was an unusual Turquoise flower. Curious, Luigi walked over to examine it. He noticed that it had little eyes looking out at him, and there was a tag on it. He bent down to look at the words on the tag. The tag said, in cursive letters, 'Touch Me.' _What is this, Alice in Wonderland_? He thought to himself. Nevertheless, he did what the tag said and touched the flower. An unusual sensation overcame him as he felt the flower's power surge through him. When the surge was over, Luigi looked no different, but felt colder; it was as if someone had cranked up the cold air that was blowing through the cave. Luigi turned around to see the piranha plant. He didn't know how his coldness was going to stop the plant, it he had to try something. Especially since the fireballs they were spitting out at Mario were getting bigger by the moment.

"Hey you plants! Leave my brother alone!"

The plants turned towards him, causing Luigi to falter and step back a bit. But he took a deep breath, and charged forward. The plants began shooting their fireballs at him.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Luigi freaked out and skidded to stop himself, throwing his hands up to block the ball of fire, even though he knew it would do no good. However, something incredible happened: when Luigi threw up his arms, an ice ball shot out from his hands, and went directly to the fireball and extinguished it. He watched in awe as fireball disappeared in a smoke form. He then began running to the plants at full speed, shooting ice at the fireballs to extinguish them. When he was close to the pipes, he jumped up and fired with all his might all the ice that he had left in him. He blasted out multitudes of shots at a time, hitting the plants right at the core. When he was finished, the piranhas were a frozen monument stuck in their pipes. He smiled and was content with what he had done. Soon, there was a rumble, and he looked up and saw that the stalactites were falling once more. He quickly hauled Mario to the side and ducked for cover. The stalactites fell and crushed the frozen icicles of piranha plants, ending their existence.

"Woah...Luigi..."

"I know right?"

Mario was helped up by Luigi, and he stuck out his burned arm.

"Maybe you could do something about this?"

"I could try."

Luigi raised one arm, aimed it at Mario's burned hand, and shot out a gentle frost flow. It didn't erase the burn, but the pain was much more bearable, almost as if it was just a scratch.

"Better?"

"Much better."

Mario flexed his hand a bit. There was still a bit of pain, but it was much better than before.

"C'mon, Weegi. We gotta find a way out of here."

They continued walking through the cave. It was still blowing cold air, but at the moment it was very welcomed. They were careful to jump over ice patches and whatnot. Finally, they were able to make out something at the end of the cage: a green pipe hanging from the ceiling with a ray of light shining out of it. They rushed towards it and looked at it with relief...and a bit of anxiety.

"Is that the way out?"

"Only one way to find out."

Mario shoved Luigi directly under the pipe, making him the guinea pig once more. Luigi stumbled but regained his balance. At first, nothing happened. But then, quite suddenly, a sucking noise echoed throughout the cave, and Mario watched as Luigi was lifted gently, hovered about six feet off the ground for a brief moment, and then was sucked through rapidly. Mario made his conclusion: the pipe was the way out. Before Mario decided to move under it, there was screaming coming from above ground, and what seemed like a growling voice. Two distinct screaming sounds. One was high pitched and sounded child-like, the other was Luigi's.

"AHHHHH! Someone help!"

Mario dashed underneath the pipe and was sucked up instantly. His eyes watered as the wind whooshed pass him. He was then thrown out into the world and fell face forward onto the grass. Shaking his head, he looked up and saw that a giant brown like blob monster was holding a small mushroom person upside down. Mario shook his head once more. _A mushroom person? Really?_ He was distracted from his thoughts when he turned to his right and saw that two more of the giant monsters had cornered Luigi into a rocky wall.

"Hey! Hey you!"

Mario looked. The mushroom man seemed to be yelling at him!

"Uh…Yeah?!"

"Hit the box! The box above you! Hit it!"

Mario looked up, and right above him was a golden yellow box with question marks all over the side. _Well, I've been sucked down a plumbing pipe, attacked by giant piranha human-eating plants, and have been able to throw fireballs. I might as well do this._ He jumped up and punched the bottom of the box. A flower with orange, red, and yellow petals fell out and looked directly at him. He touched the flower and quite suddenly he felt as if someone had turned up the heat a thousand degrees. Feeling the heat build up inside him, Mario turned and charged for the giant monster holding the small man.

"LET HIM GO!"

The monster turned to see who dared challenge him, but by that time Mario had already leaped into the air, a giant fireball perched in his hand. He threw the fireball at the monster, hitting him square in the eye. The monster roared loudly as it stumbled backwards, dropping the small man as it did so. Mario rushed to the man's aide.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, but you had better save your friend!"

Mario jerked his head up to see that the other two monsters that were harassing Luigi had kicked him and thrown him against the wall. Mario ran towards them and shot two more giant fireballs at each of them. The monsters growled and stumbled back, allowing Mario and the small man to rush forward and console Luigi, whose left arm was in terrible pain.

"Weegi, are you going to be okay?"

"I…I guess…but my arm…" He clutched his arm close to his body; it looked broken.

"Don't worry, we'll get you somewhere safe to look at your arm soon enough.

"GUYS! LOOK OUT!"

The three of them turned and saw that the monsters were coming towards them at full speed. Mario barely had time to react before his body was kicked violently against the wall. One of the monsters grabbed him by the teeth, swung him around, and released him suddenly. Mario soared through the air, the heat sensation from the flower making him feel as if he was going faster than he really was. He hurdled into the ground, but his body skidded a good 50 feet before actually stopping. He groaned and tried opening his eyes. His vision was extremely blurry, yet he saw what appeared to be a few figures in the horizon. But before his vision was able to focus, he closed his eyes and passed out in the grass.


	4. Four

**Four**

"Is he breathing?"

"Is he dead?"

"Take his pulse!"

"Heeelllloooo in there!"

"Hey, wake up!"

"He's dead. He's just dead."

These were the voices that Mario heard. They were unusually high pitched and not like the ones he heard before. He gently opened his eyes to see who loomed above him. At first, his vision was blurry and all he saw were blobs, but it cleared up and he saw four little people looking down at him. They each had the same mushroom hats like the little guy that he and Luigi were attempting to save earlier. Speaking of Luigi….

Mario shot up from where he was laying down, but an instant headache overcame him to the point where he couldn't open his eyes anymore, and he had to sit back down. Two of the little people rushed to either side of him to comfort him, one of them taking a bottle filled with rainbow pills, pouring one into his hand, and giving it to Mario.

"Take this."

Mario studied the pill suspiciously. "Why's it all rainbow?"

"Just take it. You'll feel better instantly."

Still suspicious, Mario slowly placed the pill in his mouth, then took a sip of water from the cup beside him, and swallowed the pill whole. He didn't know what happened after that, but something moved inside his body, and he felt instantly light and happy. Even a smile had begun to spread on his face. A door opened, and they all looked up. The little man from earlier had walked in, and right behind him was Luigi. Mario let out a silent sigh of relief upon seeing Luigi, and then proceeded to look him over. There were cuts on his face and his left arm was in a sling. Mario then turned to his left to look into a mirror to look himself over. His cheek was slightly bruised, and his head had a bandage wrapped around it in a headband style, the front part of his hair covering it.

"I'd like to thank you two for saving me," the small man said as he walked towards Mario. His voice was high pitched but raspy.

"No problem. Are these…these…monsters-"

"Goombas. They're called Goombas."

"These…Goombas…are they all over this world?"

"No, they just live in Boggly Woods a bit ways from here. But they come here sometimes to torment us Toadshroom people."

"Where are we right now?"

"We're in my friend Toadette's house in Toad Town. Sorry, but I haven't introduced myself. My name's Toad."

"Well, my name's Mario, and this is my younger brother, Luigi."

Mario held out his hand, and Toad shook it. Luigi held out his good arm and shook Toad's hand as well.

"Now then," Toad asked as he stood back and looked the two of them over, "May I ask just how the two of you got here?"

Mario and Luigi both looked at each other with wide eyes, each trying to figure out how to explain their situation.

"Well you see…We're plumbers where we come from. We were responding to a call about a busted toilet, and then a pipe came up from the same toilet and it had a piranha plant spitting fire at us. I caught a fireball and threw it back, killing the plant. Then we jumped down the pipe, had an adventure there, and now we're here."

"Wait…" the pink Toadshroom came forward, eyes wide and hand to mouth, "You're plumbers from your realm?"

"Yeah…?"

"And the pipe that brought you two here came from the toilet?"

"Yes…why?"

"Toad..!"

She stepped back to the other two Toadshrooms and gestured Toad towards them. They huddled and talked in hushed tones. Mario and Luigi looked at them and wondered what was so urgent. They heard the word 'Prophecy' thrown around about three times. The Shrooms broke their huddle and Toad came forward to the brothers once more.

"Toadette's going to clean you guys up a bit more and then I'll take you down to Toad Town."

Toad disappeared into the next room. The pink Shroom, Toadette, came forward and tended to Luigi's arm. She used rubbing alcohol to clean the open cuts, and then changed the bandages. She then tended to Mario's gash on his head.

"I'd like to thank you two for saving Toad," she said as she rubbed alcohol onto the gash. Mario hissed with every rub. "It means a lot to me."

"It's no problem. Are you and Toad, like, close?"

"Yes, he's my boyfriend. The end of this month would make it six years that we've been together. I love him so much, and I don't know what I'd do without him."

Mario smiled. Six years to a committed relationship. That's exactly what he wanted. He wished he could've had that with Pauline. But hey, things happen. Toad came back into the room.

"You guys ready? After a bit of a walk around town, I'll take you guys to meet the princess."

"The princess? Count me in!" Luigi answered. He hopped off the bed and followed Toad out of the house. Mario began to follow them, but stopped and turned around to face Toadette.

"Hey, if all goes well, I'll talk to Toad about marrying you. Six years of devotedness really deserves a ring on your finger."

Toadette smiled and blushed. Mario showed off a small smile before patting her arm and taking off after the other two.

* * *

The brothers followed Toad on the trail from the woods. Toad stopped them on a hill and gestured to them down below.

"Look down yonder you guys. Welcome to Toad Town."

Mario and Luigi looked down in high awe. The town looked glorious; little trading centers and merchant shops. There were even a bunch of restaurants. All the Shroom people bustled around the town going about their business. The brothers continued to follow Toad around.

"So Toad, do you live around here?" Luigi asked.

"Actually, I do," Toad answered, and he pointed over to the left where there were a series of houses. "I live in those houses over there."

The neighborhood looked peaceful from afar, and Mario could see why Toad would want to live here. Toad Town was actively buzzing at that moment, and Mario and Luigi fought to keep close to Toad so that they wouldn't lose him in the crowd. They walked on for a few minutes longer before stopping in front of a corner restaurant called "Smoothie Heaven". It had a patio out on the front porch with circular tables that had umbrellas covering over them. At one of the tables sat a young woman with shoulder length wavy brunette hair, a yellow flowing sundress that stopped about five inches above the knee, white flats with a flower on top, and a golden crown on her head. Toad walked up and greeted her.

"Why, hello there, Daisy!"

The woman turned around and her eyes instantly lit up in a smile. "Hiya, Toad!"

She jumped off of her seat and bent down to hug him. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How's your life been?"

"Hmph," Daisy pouted as she stood and crossed her arms, "I just need this battle back in my kingdom to clear up so I can get back to ruling once again."

"Ruling?" Mario and Luigi said at the same time.

"Oh yeah. Mario, Luigi, this is Princess Daisy. She's the ruler of the neighboring Kingdom of Sarasaland. She's also a really close friend of the princess. Daisy, this is Mario and Luigi."

"Nice to meet you guys!" Daisy beamed as she shook both brothers' hands. She then stood back and looked them over. "Say, you guys aren't from around here, are you?"

"They're not. They came from…uh…"

"Brooklyn," Mario answered, "Brooklyn, New York."

"Brooklyn? Is that in the Mushroom Kingdom?" Daisy asked.

"The Mushroom Kingdom?" Mario and Luigi said with confused looks on their faces.

Daisy straightened up her head. "Yep. You guys are definitely not from around these parts. Take a look around you. Everything you see is all a part of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad Town is just the capital."

"They're from the realm known as Earth, Daisy. And I'm already thankful for they saved my life."

"Really? How?"

"Well," Luigi started, "We came here by means of plumbing toilet pipes-"

"Woah, did you say toilet? You two don't happen to be plumbers, are you?"

"Well yeah we are," Mario said, "But what's wrong with-"

Daisy grabbed Toad and pulled him to the side and they whispered amongst themselves. Mario and Luigi strained to hear them. For the second time, the word 'Prophesy' was thrown around. Daisy looked up to them.

"Well then. Seems like you two will be enjoying your stay here! And what an eventful stay it will be!"

Mario and Luigi just looked at each other, both more confused by Daisy's words. What did she mean by '_eventful stay_'?

"Make sure they reach the castle safe, Toady," Daisy said with a smile as she grabbed her stuff, "I have to go now. Don't wanna be late for practice! Bye now!"

She took off, but as she ran, a bracelet fell from her body. Luigi noticed and ran to pick it up. He looked up and shouted for Daisy.

"Hey! Daisy! You forgot this!"

"Huh?"

She stopped and turned around. Luigi ran and caught up with her.

"You forgot this," He said as he panted slightly.

"My lucky bracelet! Thanks! I don't know what I'd do without it!"

Luigi panted bit, but did something astonishing: He knelt to the ground, held Daisy's hand, and slipped the bracelet on for her. Daisy looked at him as he did and he then looked into her eyes. He didn't know what happened, but he felt an instant connection from the moment their eyes locked on each other's. After what seemed like an eternity, Luigi cleared his throat and got up.

"Uh, you're welcome."

"Thanks again," she chuckled. "So, I'll see you around again, right?"

"Uh…right."

"Cool. Peace out!" She smiled at him one last time before taking off again. Luigi let out a sigh before going back to the other two.

"Alright you guys," Toad said as he pointed ahead to a grand castle in the distance, "Time to go see the princess."

Toad began leading the way and Mario followed right behind him. Luigi turned around to see the direction that Daisy had run off to. He sighed one last time before turning around to catch up with the other two.


End file.
